Universal Size Chart...er... charts.

[Unyko]

XD Wow, that -is- quite a difference. Especially the little -tiny- Saa.. since they can go from 2 - 6ft on the outside. *wiggle* Let me know if you need anything!

[Xenoqueen]

As someone used to making size charts on her own to even try and grasp how big her dragons are, LOVE IT.

[StarFyre]

Before break, I was actually working on a set of traditional-standing (passant sinister, to use the heraldry term -- left facing standing) Myrsilkain bases for male/female in order to create a size chart for them. If you'd like, I can pass those bases on to you, or I can create the chart myself.

<.< Actually, I think I'd like to steal that chart background anyway, if I may. I've been thinking of doing some sets for all my major races, along with time-growth charts to show how they mature over time.

[JKatkina]

Oooh! *wriggles fingers* StarFyre, you can download the chart from http://artdragon.mine.nu/~kat/random/chart.psd in its .psd form. If you can't access it that way or some such, I'll whip you up some .jpgs. I'd love to have charts straight from the source! To keep everything looking more or less the same, I might steal the images from you later and re-make it myself if you're doin' something really different.

Actually, Uny, do you have any Saa pictures that would sit well on a size chart? If not, could I convince you to whip one up? X3

Thank you for your kind words, guys. :D I'm really, really glad to hear that this'll be useful!

[Shard]

Do you have a bitmap of it? Might as well do some of mine, though truth be told i don't have anything unique other than maybe the deer dragons and similar things. It's odd, don'tcha think that I've been in the Nexus as long as I have been and haven't ever really made my own absolutely unique ones - I suppose the Zekiran ones count, though?

[JKatkina]

Ten-four, big boss! C'est voila!
http://artdragon.mine.nu/~kat/random/feetb.bmp
http://artdragon.mine.nu/~kat/random/metersb.bmp

As for totally unique creatures, well, maybe now's the time to start! ;D But then, you've had your fingers in creating some of the big'uns that're the movers and shakers around the Nexus, yes?

(I need to go to bed. :D)

[Dray]

I snatched up my current Paros (older Weyrlings) and put them on this chart for fun, though I think the results are pretty darned interesting!

Chart link here, don't want to stretch the window!

From left to right:
Greens Wanteth and Dhorijath, the former from a Falas Gold and the latter from a Weyr Eriol white. A good example of size discrepancy where people aren't agreed about what the size of their dragon are! XD
Blue Owlmath, what I always figured was a typical blue height even if he's part hydra.
Mud Brown Ozamdouth, a part AAM, part Pern-ish mutt (his father was only a Greater AAM Beast so that's why he's so small for a brown!)
Black Semad Quipeery, a serpentine dragon -- and a good example of how having a long neck can really make a dragon look much taller!
Aqua-Crystal Gliysdu, Part Makanan Asandus Miudia Toerii'Eyele, and Gliysdu's sibling Seaysdu (JKat, is Miudia's height roughly right for Makanan's?)
Blue Jorozhith, Dhorijath's sibling -- hence the huge size! (Wouldn't want to see a Gold born from the same family, she'd be absolutely massive!)
Silver Gold Disteran and Brown Blue Eaum Quipeery are both serpentine so while their shoulders are lower to the ground they still look bigger than their equivalents.
White Enito Selamputo looks about right for part Piralan height; he could probably stand to be taller given that he's part Askan. Interesting (at least to me!) to see where discrepancies pop up when you can actually eyeball things!
Bronze Piasath and Gold Omittath both seem roughly the right height for Pernese high rankers to me, though I suppose that these two are larger than the agreed upon chart. I'll have to work on sizing them down over the next few generations!
Brown Niteshan Occorro Cn'eni looks absolutely massive for a part Niteshan/Piralan mix, though some of that comes from his Dragon Whorling parentage! It's funny to think that Niteshans could be bigger than Pernese Golds... but I think that's just because Golds are always listed as huge when not compared to anything else. (Can you imagine a Niteshan wandering around the forest? They'd only have to poke their head up a touch to look overtop of a canopy. XD Their heads would be stuck in branches all the time unless they held them low to the ground!)
Black Loricated Inoceth is part Star City Mutt, and that is actually roughly an average height for Star City Mutts... which is kind of scary. Gives some perspective to how humongous the space station must be to have a flight deck that's big enough for these guys to wing laps through, let alone simple living quarters. :o How annoying to be so huge and powerful and have to be linked to a dinky human the height of your ankle in order to survive.

Anyways, thanks for the chart psd, Kat! :D That was a fun exercise!

[Yakima]

>.< I really need to get Treval's species done...

I downloaded that chart...if you want, I can make the ones for Treval and send them to you on that....though I'll redo them for the Anarendor site on something that matches the layout. XD

[JKatkina]

XD If you want to make up charts, Yakima, go right ahead! If it's more work for you though, don't worry about it, they're not vital.

[Dray]

>.< I really need to get Treval's species done...

OH HECK YES. XD It's such a downer to see all of those fields waiting to be filled out with just the super basics in each one! I'd love to see more in your species pages!

[Cy]

*must convince self to do some of these for her own species*

[Yakima]

*pulls out the drawings for her charts* Don't worry, Kat, I have to do them anyway (otherwise I think Dray will start throwing things at me) so no worries.

[Dray]

:P *Rallies Cy and Yakima from the sides* Delicious informations... om nom nom!

[Yakima]

The only problem I always have is I change things as I go along which is why I never seem to get anything done. Well, not change, but improve or add more detail...*faceplants*

I kinda started on the Tavrayn info...then got distracted making a chart for colors...O.o whoops...*eats BLT and stares at pretty colors*

[Yakima]

*pokes Dray and pushes something under her nose* Progress, eh?

http://www.wolf-mage.com/anarendor/dragons_tavrayn.html

XD

No charts yet...sorry...still fiddling with the images I'm going to use...*nods*

[StarFyre]

You may all faint in surprise! Starry actually finished something =P

(BTW, totally not responsible for injuries due to shock at Starry finishing something OR shock at the following chart showing Myrsilk sizes.)




AANNDDD that's the size range, folks. Not including sports, because there aren't any sports out there beyond one and he isn't uploaded anywhere because (gasp) Starry is lazy.

Wings aren't the best, but that's because I had to sketch them in by hand on the screen. With a pen, luckily, but still.

[Shard]

Holy crap they're huge

[StarFyre]

I think it went like this: "Uhhh.. 100 is a good round number, lets make that the general upper length limit, and 50 for the lower! ... oh, you want height? .. uhh.. 1:3 height:length ratio. ... 0.o;; omg that's huge... ..."

But that's nothing. Did you know, I had originally considered a 1:2 height:length ratio before discarding it as 'too squat'? So, think, that upper limit there could be at the 50 ft mark.

[JKatkina]

Bwahaa! A species that could finally give Mystic's Hydras a run for their money!

Very nice! Thank you, Star!

[Dray]

HAH! XD What I want to know is, why would they need to bond a piddly little human-sized thing?

[JKatkina]

HAH! XD What I want to know is, why would they need to bond a piddly little human-sized thing?

Quick'n'easy snackies!

[StarFyre]

HAH! XD What I want to know is, why would they need to bond a piddly little human-sized thing?

=P They don't, actually. For much of their history, they were like "we bond to each other, sometimes, otherwise, meh". Then they met humans, and it was sorta "ooh, another sentient species, cool", and they let the humans watch a hatching, and one of the hatchlings went "hey, why not? you interest me", and the adults went "WTF TINY THING BONDED, WTH" and promptly threw all humans out of the Clan, including the hatchling and bond.

To this day, some Clans absolutely loathe the idea that such squishable tiny things could be mentally capable of bonding with one of them (superiority complex), and some Clans think the novelty of tiny intelligent things is cool and like the mental exercise of trying to think 'tiny'. So, y'know, despite the fact that the Myrsilk do care for their bonds, when they have them, humans are still a curiosity, a mental exercise, an 'awww, they're cute!' reaction. Kinda like us and, say, gerbils or mice, only the gerbils/mice can talk back and bond you.

This does cast an entirely new light on Akelara though -- that Clan is built specifically for Myrsilkains, with only small concessions made for humans/other dragon species. Guh. The sheer SIZE of that place!

EDIT: Oh, Jkat, the meters chart is uploaded in the same directory, since I remember you using both on the webpage. Just add "_meters" after "chart" in the filename.

[Dray]

That's awesome! Yeah, I'd imagine that they'd have the same complex about 'needing bigger brains to be smart' that we do, given how much larger they are! I really like that dynamic... having to put ladders up on the edges of stairs, if they have them, or crazy rope bridges and the like to places that can usually be flown to would be insanity.

[Shard]

Heh, it really makes my double-bonder Taaj pretty impressive, then

[StarFyre]

And this (linked because I've already stretched this page enough) puts a new perspective on that first year of growth.

Please note that the large end of the yearling spectrum is larger by a slight bit than the small end of the adult spectrum. The only way to tell them apart is that yearlings are still a bit 'out of proportion'.

And aww, don't they start out CUTE?


.. Luckily, it's rather rare for the larger side of the spectrum to be born. I mean, in this Clan, that is.

In general - if a Clan felt that human-things were cute lil gerbils/mice to be adopted as pets, they ended up leaning towards the 'small' side of the spectrum, the better to play with the cute lil things they find fascinating without making the human-things go squish. And, likewise, if a Clan felt that human-things should be squished, they ended up leaning towards the 'large' side of the spectrum, the better to squish'em.

Already, with that size-range difference, you can see the start of two distinct races. Certainly, there are already two very distinct mindsets at play.

[Dray]

Interesting that they'd change themselves based on what their outlook is on humans. I'd think that they would try to breed bigger humans over time, instead! XD

Waiting for massive Myrsylkians to side with Mystic's Hydras in order to stomp over various human cities. Eek!

[StarFyre]

One would bet that they'd tried that, too. Maybe a mutual "You get bigger, I'll consent to get a bit smaller, we're both happy then" sort of agreement was going on.

The "I'm going to get bigger to better squash these bugs" group just sorta amuse me.. and, yes, I could totally see them siding with the Hydras. It's not that the Myrsilk are evil per-se, it's that... they don't consider humans as, well, things that deserve respect. Just as things. That go squish. And maybe taste good. Another prey species, albeit barely a mouthful, but which comes in massive herds and sometimes delivers itself straight to your doorstep. How convenient! And how much more proof of non-sapience do you honestly need?

Tiny things obviously can't have a fully developed intelligence, so there's no need to feel bad about squishing/eating them. Yum.

[Dray]

Makes me wonder, how big are other species where Myrsylkians come from? I imagine they must keep mammoths as pets or something. XD

[JKatkina]

How convenient! And how much more proof of non-sapience do you honestly need?

BWAAAHahahaaaa. You know they're onto something.

[StarFyre]

The "OMGHUGE" is actually a result of the second world the Myrsilk called home. Their first world was fairly small, circling a blue-white star, and they never grew much more than 15 feet at the shoulder, at the most. It was totally accidental that they learned to take themselves to other planets (someone decided to play 'random teleport through the Void' and got lucky. After that, a small, adventuresome segment decided to play russian roulette with their lives and try for other worlds), and the one that a segment of the population decided was perfectly acceptable was actually rather large, supporting plenty of large game.

That abundance, combined with the size of the beings on the planet, led the Myrsilk to grow larger. This is also the point where the Elements truly evolved (up to this point, there were 'proto-elementals', dragons that could manipulate nature in general, but nothing specific, and nothing large. In fact, their ability to touch the Void was the greatest talent of all, and had evolved as an escape mechanism). Second Home was rich in magic, and the Myrsilkains grew accustomed to that through the generations. That, combined with the constant travel through the Void, led to the Voids being the first recognized Element. The others soon followed, as like paired to like and the elemental lines were strengthened. The fact that any clutch now can produce (nearly) any Element or Season is because, to keep themselves from splitting into n races (because there weren't nearly enough in each line to keep inbreeding down, and because several lines had already mostly destroyed themselves from the result of that) they started crossing themselves. So, now, everyone carries the 'potential' of every other line, which also led to the multi-specialization that's so common now.

It's because of Second Home that Myrsilk rely so much on magic that they'd die without it. I'd postulate on there being a branch that never gained that reliance, and so never really differentiated into Elements and Seasons, by never leaving First Home, but First Home was so long ago that it isn't really remembered as anything other than First Home. Who knows if that branch is even still alive.

As for pets.. well, beyond humans (snerk), there are several from Second Home, and one or two others from various Clan Homes, that I've never drawn or described anywhere, but thought about at random as a "aww, that's kinda cute.. .... that one isn't, though"

From Second Home, we have:
The obligatory cute-fluffy thing. Which is about twelve feet tall at the shoulder, with appropriately sized saber teeth, razor claws, and the demeanor of a house cat. Built relatively compact like a saber-tooth tiger, these beasts are powerhouses, not slinky-lithe things, with thick, fluffy fur that sprouts from under tiny, diamond-hard scales. They come in any color you want, so long as you want white, off-white, or cream. If you're lucky, you might find one with stripes or bars. If you're really, really lucky, you might find a rare black. Which are sterile. This is an obligate carnivore, by the way, and it thinks anything smaller than it, and many things its size and larger, looks tasty. They're not so much domesticated as 'willing residents of the Clan, who love free food'.

Something a little less cute. A creature that stands only five feet tall at the shoulder, but can easily reach lengths of up to 30 feet. Splayed reptile-esque legs keep the creature low to the ground, the head is adorned with a spiny, brightly colored hood, it has a long nose-horn sharp enough to cut wood with (which is what it's used for), has a prickly ridge all down its spine, and it's fiercely territorial. If it sees you as belonging to it, it will first threaten intruders by splaying its hood and hissing, then charge into the fray, intending on slashing or goring the intruder with its nose-horn. It comes in bright, pretty colors like emerald green, sapphire blue, ruby red, and amethyst purple, and always has patterns of some sort, often diamonds or rings. It isn't poisonous, eats bugs and vegetation (and especially loves to eat heartwood of trees, going to the extent of felling young trees to devour them), and goes into hibernation whenever there isn't enough food to sustain it. These things are honestly less of a chosen pet and more of a 'someone thought it cute, and now we can't get RID of the blasted things'.

Something absolutely terrifying. Imagine a giant bat. Now make it ground-bound, with backwards scything horns, a deceptively fast gallumping stride (over short distances), wickedly sharp and strong claws for clinging to things, and a penchant for falling from above onto its chosen prey. It has a mouthful of teeth that makes the kitty-cat listed first think twice before going after one of these things, and oh, by the way, it's on par with the cat in terms of height at the shoulder. Yeah, these things tend to eat kitty in the wild, whenever kitty enters a cave. Its limbs are strong enough to shatter/snap bone; its jaw is capable of crushing bone, scale, and anything else that it comes across; its tail is relatively short, but tipped with a cruel barb that enters cleanly and rips everything to shreds on the way out. The bat-thing, by the way, is a carnivore that's capable of going for days without a meal. It's commonly used as a night time guard-beast, and is often found in the company of Shadows and Voids. Intelligent enough to be trained in a variety of manners, specially bred variants of the bat-things are used as war-beasts, day or night, while others are used as pets. Guard-beasts tend to be dark brown to black, war-beasts tend to be larger, with more prominent claws and the capability to run further, and range in color from tan to brown, often with black stripes, pets tend to be smaller than guard-beasts, and are specially bred to how almost any manner of stripes, spots, markings, and any color from white to black and tan to red.

From the Clan Homes, we have:
A variant on the kitty-cat. A bit smaller (8 ft tall), a bit sleeker, and with more colors (due to breeding between the original Second Home cat and some Clan Home cats of approximate size). Still bearing the saber teeth and the nasty claws, but more loyal (approaching dog-like in some) and infinitely more trainable. These have replaced the bat-things as preferred war-beasts and guard-beasts in some Clans. They still see things smaller than them as prey, more often than not, especially if they haven't been told 'not food' by their acknowledged owner.

A deer-like creature, approximately 8 ft tall at the shoulder, with four horn-nodes that sprout short, intertwining horns. Docile, cute, and rather puppy-dog-like, these creatures win the hearts of many children, because 'aaaww lookit that face!'. Surprisingly 'a-okay' with living amidst giant predatory dragons, giant predatory bats, and giant predatory cats, these herbivores calmly let life pass on by... until threatened by one of their roommates. At which point, their hooves, horns, and strong teeth come into play, and they send up a hue-and-cry that brings any OTHER of their kind in the area running, ready to clobber whatever's causing the problem for their herdmate. Oh, and don't go near a doe with her fawn. She'll kill you for looking at her baby wrong. Probably appropriately classed as 'vermin', these creatures are impossible to get rid of once you've got a breeding population going. They come in colors ranging from white to black, extending into red, tawny, 'smoke', and a rare violet-grey color.


...

There are others, of course, but those are the main ones I've thought about. Aaanndd... I'm going to stop right here 0.o;; seeing as I've practically written a novel.